Rohan Bopanna-Zhang Shuai enter quarter-finals after walkover

India’s Rohan Bopanna and his mixed doubles partner Zhang Shuai of the People’s Republic of China progressed to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2025 on Sunday.

Bopanna and Zhang Shuai, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 2, advanced after receiving a walkover against fourth seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States of America and Hugo Nys of Monaco in the second round.

The Indo-Chinese pair will face the winners of the match between Australian duo Olivia Gadecki and John Peers and Hungary's Timea Babos and El Salvador's Marcelo Arevalo in the final eight.

Rohan Bopanna, 44, and Zhang Shuai, 35, had beaten France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the season’s first tennis Grand Slam.

Bopanna was also a part of the men’s doubles event at the Australian Open with Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos.

However, the Indo-Colombian duo lost 7-5, 7(7)-6(5) to Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar in the opening round.

Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era of tennis when he won the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Matthew Ebden last year.

The duo split at the end of 2024 and neither Bopanna nor Ebden made it past the first round of the men’s doubles event at the Australian Open this year.

Bopanna, in mixed doubles, is India’s last remaining challenge at the Australian Open 2025.

Yuki Bhambri, with French partner Albano Olivetti, and Rithvik Bollipalli, partnering Ryan Seggerman of the USA, suffered first-round exits from the men’s doubles event.

N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, meanwhile, crashed out in the second round.

In singles action, Sumit Nagal was ousted in the first round after a loss to Czechia’s Tomas Machac.

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